The Path of the Paladin
by Sam Gorlab
Summary: A story about the strength and honor of the paladins, as well as the power of the  dark knights.   This is my first FanFic, I hope you all like it. Rated T for minor swearing. Please enjoy and R and R.
1. The Rise of The Dark Knight

(AN) Since this is my first story I would really appreciate some reviews with feedback, please only constructive criticism and no chat speak. I'll make sure to add chapter 2 as soon as possible. Enjoy

I would also like to thank ixJeffJeff for his review, it was quite helpful. I edited the chapter and made the story less painful to look upon, while doing this I found the errors that he had spotted and fixed them. I can tell that 's format is going to take some getting used to. (/AN)

* * *

Fire was burning bright against the sky as the smoke obscured the very heavens, blotting out the stars. Yet the moon still showed its face, a witness to this tragic event, this massacre.

The raiders had been swift, they had caught the town sleeping completely unprepared and unaware.

Their ranks were made up of hundreds of tauros led by a Balrog. In the night they had began their bloodthirsty assault as they swept in killing the sleeping inhabitants and burning everything else.

A lone figure ran across the fair fields of Heneseys, the beautiful meadows were charred black and the grass was beat down. The village up ahead was burning, with the screams of dying innocents piercing the air every so often, drowning out the guttural voices of the monstrous army that slaughtered them.

As the man raced towards the village he drew a sword and unslung a shield that had been strapped to his back, the shield had a dark background with a fiery red maple leaf emblazoned on it while the sword was tinted pink with a slight curve. As he ran he whispered the words Holy Charge and a bright light seething with power seemed to imbue itself within his sword.

As he entered the city the attacking creatures rushed toward him, but he paid them no heed and ran past.

He continued to run until he reached the center of the city, there he stood in the middle of a huge dais which the city had been build around and watched as the hordes of tauros surrounded him, ringing him in.

There was silence the very air seemed tense, waiting for either side to begin the fighting;

at length the man spoke "Be gone from here foul creatures, demons, for I am a paladin a wielder of the holy fire, a protector of the weak and the innocent.

Go back to darkness of your cursed sanctuary, and trouble not the outside world with your presence."

A balrog stepped to the front of the horde, the tauros parted before him, he then spoke "we do not follow the orders of a paladin nor any other human, we have come here to kill and slaughter and you cannot stop us, you shall die for your insolence."

"If that is so then further talk is useless" the paladin said,he then raised his weapon shouting "I summon the power of light, the strength of the divine to smite this scourge of evil from this fair land".

Then hanging in the air above him was seen a shaft of light shining so brightly that it was almost unbearable to look upon, and at the end there was the great head of a hammer which was made of a pure white light, and was terrible to look upon for those creatures of darkness and evil; but to those pure of spirit and full of honor it was beautiful to behold.

The balrog shuddered at the divine apparition as the tauros shrieked, then it came crashing down bringing judgment with it and obliterating the monsters that had dared to challenge the power of a holy paladin.

* * *

The rocky ground of Perion crunched beneath my feet as I walked towards the land of the wild boar, everyday since I could wield a sword I had walked around Perion,

training on the many monsters that lived there. First stumps, then dark stumps, then axe stumps, and finally now wild boars.

The reason for my "harsh training regimen" as others have called it, is to become as great as the paladin that rescued me nine years ago when my village was destroyed.

I was only three then, but I was the only survivor. My determination in leveling has taken me greatly past all of my peers and onto a plinth that few stand upon.

Hundreds of boars have fallen to my blade, and in a few more levels I will be strong enough to train on fire boars.

I am currently level twenty six and I intend on reaching thirty soon. My artes rain down death upon all the boars in my path, each one bringing me closer to the time that I might become a page and take up the path of that paladin that saved my so long ago.

His name is Oslander and he is like a legend, the only paladin that has risen from the ranks of white knights and taken up the fourth job. He is an embodiment of heroism and the many values of a paladin. He tears down evil everywhere he goes saving many innocent lives.

My sword swirling with mana smashes down on the head of a boar taking its life and gaining me a level.

With the new strength that I gain I decide to go through dangerous valley to the burning land to see if I can take on fire boars yet. Walking through the dangerous valley I see the entrance of the burning land carved into a cliff face, steam billows from its depths.

As I enter the burning land an acrid smell hits me, viciously assaulting my nose.

As I walk forward a patch of steam obscures my vision for a moment, that one moment was enough. A huge impact knocks me over and sends me flying into a cliff wall.

The fire boar is on top of me in a fraction of a second, tearing open my chest with its sharp tusks all the while burning me with the simple touch of its skin.

I see my broadsword lying a few feet away, just out of reach.

With a Herculaneum effort I throw my self to the side a grab wildly for the hilt.

With sheer luck I grasp it in my hand bring it up thrusting it into the fire boar's heart.

I look down at my torn up slashed and burned body with horror seeing the damage the boar has done. Crawling over to my pack I open it and take out a return scroll, willing it to work and take me back to Perion.

I gradually become aware of seeing light flicker in front of me as the world comes into focus; I am in the Perion potion shop.

Sophia leans over and dabs some ointment onto my arm, seeing that I am awake she bursts into a barrage of accusations about how I should never have gone to the burning land at my level. Her words hit my skull like hammer blows and my vision blurs again I don't resist, happy to drift off to sleep.

When I finally wake up again most of my wounds are healed, except for a few that are covered in bandages.

The shop is empty. It feels good to get out of bed after being in one so long; I step out of the shops tent flap and breathe the fresh Perion air.

As I begin to walk off, a peer of mine Jen stops me saying "Khylear, you can't go off and train. you aren't strong enough yet!" "I'm sorry but I have to, I've been delayed enough as it is" I say brushing her aside.

I continue on to the burning land, ready to avenge myself on those damn fire boars. As I enter, once again a fire boar leaps at me, but I am ready I quickly roll out of the way and slice through the boar's skull with my strongest arte strengthening my sword.

Another fire boar charges me, I quickly sidestep and slice its belly open letting its steaming guts fall to the rocky ground.

I see three more rushing at me head on, without thinking I call upon my mana and tackle the boar in the center thrusting my sword through its heart.

The two other fire boars rush past me; one however manages to slash my left arm. I turn around and face the two fire boars as they charge again. I slash wildly trying to knock them back, one is stunned by the force of my attack but the other continues forward throwing itself towards me.

My body reacts without thinking and I thrust my sword deep into its gullet, its momentum carrying it into my sword while its flames burn me a little before going out.

The other fire boar snarls and rushes toward me but I cannot dislodge my sword from the first fire boars throat, leaving me with only my injured left hand to defend myself. As the fire boar draws near and I feel its hot breath upon me, I wince waiting for the inevitable to happen.

However a ray of light shoots from the entrance of the burning land and pierces the fire boar's heart before it could make another move, and I feel my wounds healing. I saw the cleric that had saved me was standing in the entrance way of the burning land.

I immediately noticed that she was around level forty with red hair and wearing a blue moonlight robe, it struck me that she was really pretty.

"Who are you? Why'd you save me?" I asked, she glared and said

"because I spent the last few weeks healing you for being a dumb ass, when Jen told me you went back here to train I came to make sure you didn't kill yourself.

"Oh" I said staring dumbly.

"Well since you seem to be such a hotheaded moron that won't stop training for your own good,

it looks like I'll have to stay and train with you to keep you from getting killed".

"I guess that that's fine by me" I said still unable to look away from her. She raises an eyebrow,

"are you going to defend yourself or keep ogling?"

I gulped and turned away, just in time to impale the fire boar that had been moments away from trampling me.

That day we trained for hours until the sun began to set during that day I reached level twenty eight.

As we walked back to Perion she told me that I was probably strong enough to hold my own at the burning land, so she was going to Lubridium to train on chronos tomorrow.

Chronos, a monster I had only heard stories about.

I finally raised the courage to ask

"what is your name?"

She looked at me with surprise and told me that it was Kayla.

"Wow you're really pretty" I started to say but before I could finish she slapped me, sending me crashing into an outcropping of rock.

How was a cleric that strong I thought as she teleported away.

I picked myself slowly off the ground and continued on to Perion alone. When I arrived I used the mesos that I had earned at the burning land on level thirty armor, but I didn't get a sword just yet as I lacked enough mesos for a scimitar.

The following five days I trained everyday on the fire boars, massacring thousands of them, by the end of those five days my endurance paid off and I managed to reach level thirty. As that last fire boar fell granting me that sacred level, I felt elation shooting through my spine and on light feet I ran to Perion.

Dances with balrogs looked up from the paper he was reading, as his most promising student walked into the warrior's sanctuary.

Out of breath he blurted

"Master I have reached level thirty at last and would like to know how to make the job advancement as a page".

Dances with balrogs eyed him for a moment then said "well done, no one has ever reached this level as early as you. I offer you my most sincere congratulations, however I must warn you that your journey gets much harder from here on out.

You see, the job advancement of page is much harder than that of a spearman or fighters, for it is the paladins that uphold justice and honor amongst all the warrior classes, that power is not given lightly.

You must find Oslander the last paladin; only he can advance you to that sacred rank of page."

"T-thank you" I stammer as I rushed out the door.

Finally I get to meet Oslander, the greatest paladin alive, and become a page on my way to paladin hood myself. I remembered what Dances with balrogs had said earlier about the page job advancement being the hardest, but I shrugged it off; I knew I could do it.

I found Oslander at the dangerous valley, he nodded to me saying "Hello Khylear it is good to see you again, I see that you have reached level thirty; am I correct in assuming that you have come here to become a page?"

"Yes" I said in awe at him.

"Well normally I would give the lecture about the difficult and hard road of a page but I doubt you'll listen with your current level of anticipation".

I immediately stopped bouncing on the balls of my feet and looked down, embarrassed. Oslander laughed "do not be ashamed, you are still young."

He was serious again in an instant; "well for the first part of the test I must judge your strength. Go and slay seven copper drakes."

I gasped in amazement; copper drakes weren't usually trained on until level fifty.

I saw now what dances with balrogs had meant, but I knew that I could not stop now after coming so far.

I walked towards the end of the dangerous valley with my heart thudding in my chest. I was already formulating a battle plan in my head, I knew that in order to survive I would have to take on the copper drakes one at a time.

As I reached the end of my journey, I saw a massive body looming ahead of me, a great copper drake, a lesser dragon, and a formidable foe. I readied my broadsword and charged forward, summoning my power and channeling it into my sword.

As I approached the copper drake shifted its head to look at me, giving it no time to react I leaped into the air and brought my sword down upon its head. But to my amazement it did not die as my sword had only left a shallow cut across its face, blinding it in one eye.

One thing that my cut had done though was to piss off the copper drake; this much was clear as it rushed forward howling in rage and pain. I quickly leaped out of the way as it smashed into the cliff wall sending chunks of rock raining down in all directions. "Shit" at this rate its going to draw the attention of every drake in this blasted valley.

The drake prepared to lunge again as I stumble to my feet, shaken from my hard dive. Enraged to see the small creature that had caused it so much pain still alive, the drake rushed forward again abandoning all caution. As the drake came closer I saw my chance,

as its great bulk loomed over me, I ducked down and thrust my sword into its belly.

The copper drake roared in pain and thrashed around making it hard for me to hold onto my sword, but I knew that it was not mortally wounded yet. So with grim determination I continued to slice upwards through its belly, gutting it until it stopped thrashing and the life left its eyes. I stepped away from the copper drake's carcass and readied myself for what would come next.

Another copper drake appeared out of the mist coming to investigate the source of the noise caused by the previous battle. As it stood eying me it was joined by two others, they looked at me and at the corpse of the first copper drake; even as stupid as they were it didn't take long for them to realize that I had killed their comrade.

Without hesitation they charged together leaving no avenue of escape, they covered ground with impossible speed. With my doom approaching fast, I looked up hoping for any way to escape. To my amazement I saw the hilt of a huge spear that had been embedded in side of the cliff; with all the strength that I could muster I leapt and grasped the spears shaft in my hand.

I watched with grim satisfaction as the three copper drakes crashed into the cliff wall below me,

wasting no time I leapt down behind them. Before the trio of copper drakes could react I charged up behind one of them and slid on my back between its legs, seeing its exposed underbelly directly above me I stabbed upward with all of my might and pierced its heart. With one last groan of pain the copper drake fell over dead,

the other two copper drakes locked their eyes on me and howled.

Throughout the valley answering howls were heard, aw crap that's not good I thought.

The drake on the left attacked first sending a claw ripping downwards in my direction, without thinking I imbued my blade with mana and swung it upwards to meet the strike. That claw came down with enough forces to shear through rock, but my parry held, and with new found strength I leapt up and slashed the copper drake's nose sending it shrieking and reeling backwards.

The other drake slashed at me with its claw as well but I dodged under it, and with all the strength I could muster I drove my sword forward slicing open the drake's leg.

It howled in pain and crashed to the ground as I watched in grim satisfaction. I then turned and faced the drake whose nose I had destroyed, it charged forward revenge clouding its mind. Without hesitation I ran forward to meet my foe, as we neared each other I leapt once more into the air and drove my sword into its throat.

As I landed unarmed behind the copper drake's corpse, it fell forward and broke off one of its fangs on and outcropping of rock.

Even with one of its legs rendered useless the other copper drake crawled towards me, its eyes filled with hate. With the copper drake's murderous jaws coming ever closer I reached for the only weapon I could find, the dead drakes fang.

As my fingers curled around the ivory surface of that great tooth, the crippled drake lunged forward jaws snapping, once again my reflexes took over and I reached into the copper drake's mouth plunging the fang deep into the beast's throat.

Standing up I surveyed the four carcasses of the copper drakes I had slain. I walked forward and drew my sword from the throat of one of the copper drakes.

As I watched two more copper drakes appeared in the mouth of the valley, without any hesitation or fear I raised my sword above my head and charged forward unleashing a war cry from my lips. I raced across the ground surefooted and confident,

as I neared my foes I propelled myself into the air and pivoting in midair kicked off the canyon wall tackling the foremost copper drake's neck. The copper drake screamed and veered to the side crashing into the second and knocking it over, I swung around the neck in a full circle and landed in front of the monster.

The copper drake's deadly head lunged forward as I alighted on the ground forcing me to sidestep; as the head flew forward I saw my chance and cut deep into the unprotected part of the monsters neck just behind the head. The copper drake gave one last pained sigh and slumped over, dead.

The copper drake that had been knocked over finally righted itself. Before it could launch an attack at me I jumped up and kicked the beast square in the face, the copper drake fell back stunned. Without giving it a chance to recover, I launched myself forward and stabbed my sword into the copper drake's gullet.

Leaving the two dead copper drakes behind me I went in search of a seventh and last copper drake to slay.

Out of a dense patch of mist an enormous tail appeared and slammed into me sending me flying into the air stunned, my sword left my grasp and landed somewhere out of my sight. The copper drake closed in for the kill lunging forward with an open mouth full of teeth, I narrowly avoided death by diving to the side just in time but a fang raked down the length of my left arm.

I cried out as the unbearable pain hit me like a sledgehammer,

grinning the copper drake moved in to finish me off; wounded and unarmed there was nothing I could do.

As death closed in around me I remembered all the effort I had spent to get here, all the hours spent training to take the test to become a page. It was all for nothing now.

My sadness began to turn into rage as I realized that I was giving up, and I would not allow that.

I was filled with a steely determination, after all that I was NOT going to end up in a drake's belly.

With a roar I jumped up onto the copper drake's head even as my left hand bleeds profusely, I punched the copper drake in one eye then the other putting both eyes out and blinding it.

The copper drake screams and throws me to the ground, I rise and ignoring my dangling left arm and searing pain I run up to the copper drake and wrap my right arm around a soft spot on its neck.

I am buffeted by flailing blows from the copper drakes arms, and legs too when it falls onto its side, but I do not relinquish my hold and eventually the drake ceases to move and falls dead.

As I stagger back to Oslander I find my sword amidst a pile of rocks, picking it up, I limp the rest of the way to the paladin.

When he see's me he immediately rushes forward and heals my wounds, the pride on his face at my accomplishment is tremendous. At length he speaks saying

"congratulations Khylear you are the first one to complete that aspect of the test in twenty years." Felling confidence well up inside of me I ask "So, what is the second part?"

"You must face a balrog and overcome the temptation of evil."

As we walked to the entrance of the cursed sanctuary Oslander explained the second part of my test

"Just inside the sanctuary you will find a balrog, it has been bound and can do you no harm. However balrogs are powerful demons, it will do all that it can do to get you to release it. Your job is to not give in to its temptation and to drive your sword through its heart."

He motions for me walk inside a doorway "you must accomplish this task alone, only then can you become a page" he says as he shuts the door behind me.

I see heaps and piles of bones illuminated by the flicker of torchlight, suddenly there is darkness in the room complete and utter. Through the darkness a terrible voice speaks "why have you come here?" "I have come here to slay you and become a page" I state before the darkness

The demonic voice laughs "I suppose you are under the assumption that I can do you no harm,

well let me show you the truth."

Without knowing what happened I find myself lying on the floor, all that remains of my right arm is a bloody stump.

"NO! How can I ever become a paladin with only my left hand?" How can I ever become strong enough to avenge my parents? Why did Oslander lie to me?" I weep as despair engulfs me.

But slowly the illusion fades and I find myself kneeling on the cold sanctuary floor in front of a hideous balrog, standing chained to a wall. I stand but immediately another illusion overtakes me.

I find myself standing in my old town watching the monsters kill my friends, my parents, and my siblings. I cannot move to help them, I cannot save them.

I cry, hot tears of shame and grief cascading down my cheeks.

I hear the balrogs evil laughter in the background "Please make it stop, I'll do anything" I plead. "Cut my bonds then, release me" the demon whispers back as the illusion fades again. I rush forward weeping, filled with misery and cut the chains binding to balrog to the wall.

"What a fool you are, it is sad I will have to kill one as useful as yourself" the balrog says as it draws back its massive clawed hand, and begins to cast a spell.

Suddenly the balrog is blasted across the room by a beam of light and Oslander angrily shouts at me "Khylear! I cannot believe it, you of all people! You released a balrog, if I had not slain it, it would have caused untold misery throughout the world. I'm sorry, but you have shown that you do not have what is needed to become a page."

As I heard these words all my hopes are shattered and my dreams fall, I run from the sanctuary weeping.

Gradually I arrive in the mountains of Perion, and my despair begins to turn into rage.

"If cannot become a page destined to become a paladin, then I shall become a spearman on the path to becoming a dark knight!" I scream at the sky

"I will not be an upholder of justice and purity; such things are dead to me now. I choose the path of strength and the power to destroy all those who oppose me, people shall despair and cower in my presence;

the spear I carry shall be forever drenched in blood!"

Thus saying the young warrior grasped his sword in both of hands and with the new found strength of spearmen, dragon knights, and dark knights he rented it into an unusable piece of metal, unworthy of him now.

He then returned to the place where he had been saved by a spear shaft sticking out of a cliff face. With inhuman strength he ripped the spear out of the solid rock, it was pitch black, and power could almost be felt oozing from its surface.

He then turned and strode east, killing every living thing that crossed his path be it monster or human.


	2. The War That Will Consume the World

(AN) Well chapter is finally finished, please take note that most of this was done with a high fever. Enjoy. (there is also an authors note at the bottom, its probably only there because this fever is affecting my brain) (/AN)

* * *

El Nath was experiencing its worst blizzard in twelve years; no one was foolish enough to be outside in such a storm, save for one.

A lone figure seemed unperturbed by the blizzard; he stood at a distance watching the town of El Nath and ignoring the torrents of snow.

At length he turned and walked through the snowfield, his boots crunching through the snow. He stopped and rested behind an outcropping of rock, uncaring of the bitter cold.

After a few moments he continued on his way, he was going to the forest of dead trees.

To reach his destination he would have to cross over the dreaded El Nathian Mountains and cliffs.

* * *

He had arrived in Orbis a few days ago, and spoken to no one. Avoiding all human contact he had walked down Orbis tower and through El Nath, no one had noticed him due to the blizzard;

just as he intended. When he had reached the snowfield at the end of the town he continued on despite the monsters that lived there.

A pack of hectors ran across the snowfield, their paws made no sound against the powder.

No one had gone this way in days and they were eager for a meal which they now scented.

A wolf whose hide was pure white led the pack towards the scent of food, the stronger hectors followed close behind; keen on being the first to eat.

As their prey came into sight the wolves were disappointed,

there was only one man and a hundred hectors that needed food.

The man seemed to see the wolves for the first time; instead of running he stood his ground and pulled out a pitch black spear from its container on his back.

He stood twirling his spear as he stared into the eyes of the leader of the hectors. It was the legendary white fang, the invincible wolf. He smiled; it was time to find out if the wolf really was immortal.

The great white wolf leapt into the air, descending on the spearman with incredible speed. The wolf's fangs were dripping with saliva, already anticipating the easy kill. The wolf's jaw was inches away from the mans throat,

but it felt a strong force slam into its side and it was flung away, landing in front of the hundred astounded hectors who had never seen their lead injured before in any battle.

The hectors retreated in fear as the spearman advanced on their leader.

The white fang, strongest of all wolves could not muster the strength to stand after being dealt such a blow.

As he stood over their leader the hectors were overtaken by a terrible fear and fled. "Stop" the spearman's voice was not raised but it reached the ears of all the hectors on the snowfield, resounding with strength.

All the hectors froze, held in place by the power of the spearman's voice.

After seeing that he held the attention of all the hectors he again spoke

"You are not human, you do not understand many of the things that a human would.

This is quite useful because unlike humans you do not value your lives, nor do you care about fighting for beliefs or morals,

you will follow anyone who is strong enough to control you and ensure that you are fed.

I am in need of an army that possesses these traits.

You may be beasts who only understand the language of power and pain. However when I return this way you would do well to remember,

that I speak that language very well." So saying he took his spear and plunged it into the side of the great white wolf and cut upwards to the head, spilling its blood upon the snow.

Then he hoisted the spear upon his shoulder and continued on his way, all the hectors in path parted before him. He smiled as he passed, showing his teeth and leaving an impression that would not be easily forgotten.

As the spearman reached the end of the snowfields he gazed upon the mountains of El Nath before him at last, a cruel smile played across his face as he though of all the horribly strong monsters that awaited him there.

Wasting no time he shouldered his spear and began the long treacherous climb to the top.

The air became colder and more bitter the higher he climbed, wind whipped at his face.

Still he climbed and above him the top of the cliff came into sight.

Finally he reached the top and swung over the edge of the cliff. He was in the area of the yetis;

he knelt down and examined the huge tracks made in the fresh snowfall.

Standing up he walked in the direction that the tracks had led.

Gradually he began to hear the roars and grunts of the huge behemoths that dominated the lower slopes of the El Nath mountain range, the yetis.

Many a foolish adventurer had met their end by the powerful arms of a yeti; their bodies were often found at base of the cliffs; smashed and mutilated,

usually they already being devoured by the hectors. He smiled grimly at the thought, at least he wouldn't get bored here;

the hectors down below had been too easy to subjugate and he longed for a challenge.

As he rounded a bend he saw a large group of yetis, they did not seem to notice him as they were taking part of some strange animalistic ritual.

All around the yetis were wrestling each other, however they used no weapons; not even their powerful horns.

He noticed that whenever a yeti won a fight against another it would seek out another yeti that had been a victor,

it would then walk up to the new opponent, roar, and slap the other yeti across the face.

As he continued to watch the proceedings, he also noticed that the losers would walk off to side and continue to watch.

He waited patiently as the number of fights dwindled, when the last fight ended, the champion yeti; who had beaten all the others stood upon an outcropping of rock.

The victor then bellowed his dominance over all the others,

the rest of the yetis began to kneel down before him. Before this ceremony could be completed however,

the spearman finally walked forward and made his presence known.

The yetis, furious that their ceremony had been interrupted by a human, began to rise.

Before he could be apprehended the spearman rushed forward, around the crowd of yetis.

Standing in front of the yeti that had been on the verge of taking up leadership of the entire group, he thrust his spear into the ground and with a shouted battle cry he leapt up and smacked the great beast across the face.

The rest of the yetis stood frozen in shock, never before had a human done such a thing.

The yeti that had been challenged quickly got over its disbelief and sent a punch at the spearman,

the great hairy fist smashed into the ground where the spearman had been standing just moments before.

The punch went straight through the thin layer of snow and struck the solid rock beneath it, fragments of rock flew into the air from the impact but the yeti seemed unfazed.

A rock fragment cut the spearman's forehead as it hurled past,

as he was momentarily distracted the yeti through another punch at him.

This second one caught him square in the chest and sent him flying into the air.

He landed in a secluded valley, when he tried to stand up he realized that most of his ribs were broken, so was his arm.

Groaning he looked around, to his amazement his eyes fell upon a dark stone jutting up from the ground.

His ears caught the sound of yetis bellowing, they were getting closer. He realized that they were looking for him;

with all of the strength that he had, he crawled to the base of the stone.

As he looked up at the ancient rock, he took a dark crystal from his pack with great effort and laid it at the base of the stone. He then whispered

"Oh great sacred stone, I am strong but I need more strength for what I must do. I have served well the ideals of a spearman, I ask you to bestow upon me my third rank, make me a dragon knight."

A resounding voice coming from everywhere and nowhere at once then spoke

"You are worthy, rise Khylear and take up the power of the dragon knights"

a golden light then fell upon him and his wounds were healed. New power welled up within him and he felt his strength increase tenfold.

He heard the yetis close by once again, a feral smile crossed his face, this time he was ready.

He climbed out of the small valley that housed the great black stone.

Upon emerging from that holy ground he saw the yetis staring at him in wonder at how he could have taken a punch like that and sustained no injuries.

The yeti that he had been fighting earlier growled and rushed forward, eager to continue their battle.

Khylear watched as the yeti came closer, when it was almost on top of him; he jumped over the great beast's head.

Landing behind the charging yeti he threw his foot forth in a kick so powerful that it tore apart his muscles and dislocated his knee.

The yeti however hit from behind had its spine broken, and with the force of the kick as well as the momentum from its early charge the champion yeti flew forward into the cliff wall, snapped its neck, and then lay still.

Khylear looked down at his utterly destroyed leg; he set it on the ground and put weight on it, then he stamped his foot, driving it into the ground.

The pain was tremendous and would have immobilized even the most seasoned fighter in the heat of battle,

but Khylear just laughed. He laughed at the pain,

he threw his head back; and peals of insane laughter cascaded forth from his throat growing louder and louder as the yetis began to kneel before him.

He stared at the yetis kneeling around him saying

"Go, climb down the cliff face and meet with the hectors of the snowfield. I will return."

As he said this his leg began to heal until it was as if it had never been injured.

As the yetis turned and left to carry out his orders, he picked up his spear and stared at the sheer cliff face before him.

Without hesitation he began to climb even higher, he was headed right towards the werewolf territory.

As he climbed higher it got much colder, however the wind lessened and the snow stopped falling.

As he reached the top he looked out across the expanse of the El Nath region, for he was at the very highest point of the El Nathian Mountains and could subsequently see for miles around.

As he looked out at the view he heard a feral snarl,

he whipped around and saw a werewolf standing less than ten feet away.

The beast growled then lunged forward, Khylear grinned evilly and sidestepped. As the werewolf flew past he shot out his hand and grabbed hold of the great beast's arm,

he then broke the creature's wrist with the simple strength of his grip.

He stared into the werewolf's eyes until the great monster turned away with a whimper.

He then twisted the werewolf's broken wrist and asked in a venomous voice

"where is your leader?"

As he spoke other werewolves poured onto the ledge, something akin to awe in their eyes.

The werewolf that was in his power looked at the ground with something like shame,

and did not dare to look up and meet the gazes of the other werewolves. Khylear smirked,

"ah so you are the leader of these monsters, how unfortunate for you."

So saying he unslung his spear and impaled the werewolf through the chest, letting the body fall over the side of the cliff and into oblivion.

He then turned his attention back to the rest of the werewolves, who were still staring incredulously at him. He spoke saying

"Your previous leader was weak, now he is dead. You all must decide, are you weak? Or will you join me and be strong, be the victors?"

In response the werewolves howled, raising their heads and letting their howling be heard throughout the valley.

As they howled more werewolves came to join them until the ledge teamed with hundreds of the dreaded beasts.

Khylear pointed down the side of the cliff saying

"then if you are not weak, go down and join the others; I will be there presently."

The werewolves at once began to scale down the side of the cliff as he had ordered. Khylear watched them go, then began to climb down the other side of the mountain,

there were lycanthropes to subjugate.

On his way down he saw the forest of dead trees and his eyes glinted evilly.

He jumped off the cliff wall and landed on the mountain's last shelf. Around him he saw twenty lycanthropes;

they did not look in the least bit happy to see him.

He looked around and saw hundreds more coming their way. It seems that they have no leader or any hierarchy system at all he thought.

He took out his spear and a feral grin spread across his face, he snarled

"So, how many of you will I have to kill before the rest follow me?"

He then lowered his spear and charged the twenty lycanthropes head on.

As he approached the nearest one he thrust his spear forward with the power of the dragons, he had impaled the creature's abdomen.

The lycanthrope howled in rage, but before it could counter attack Khylear ripped his spear upwards through the creature and nimbly jumped over the lycanthrope as it came crashing down soaking the snow with its blood.

Khylear once again began to laugh even as he was splattered in blood and five more lycanthropes were coming to kill him. The peals of insane laughter one again came forth from his mouth.

A lycanthrope tired of this laughter, raised its clawed hand and swiped downwards toward his neck. Khylear's hand shot up and grabbed the claw of the lycanthrope,

even the claw cut deep into his skin he continued to grip it and laugh.

As the lycanthrope tried to get its claw free, Khylear raised his spear and thrust it into the lycanthrope's neck, tearing it downwards and ripping open the beast's abdomen as well.

Still laughing Khylear swung his spear and lopped off the head of another lycanthrope, and another.

Then turning around he drew the spear back over his head and slashed forward, cutting a lycanthrope entirely in half. He then charged into another group of lycanthropes, his spear slashed forward many times,

each time cutting through the body of another lycanthrope; all this time the insane laughter continued as he slaughtered the lycanthropes.

Within a few moments twenty five lycanthropes lay dead and Khylear was drenched in blood.

He then stopped laughing and addressed the rest of the lycanthropes

"You lycanthropes have never known any leader; it has always been every monster for themselves as you have been too powerful and proud to be led.

Not today, today I am your leader and you will follow me or die."

A few growls were heard but all of the lycanthropes nodded consent. Grinning evilly Khylear said "then let us be off, we go to the forest of dead trees."

He then charged down the cliff face, the hundreds of lycanthropes following him.

As they reached the bottom and entered the forest of dead trees, they saw that they had been expected. An army of zombies waited for them, not hundreds but thousands of zombies.

A coolie zombie which seemed to be the leader stepped to the front and said

"we have long been expecting you Khylear; we have for a while hungered for a war that will consume the world. Now your arrival has made this war possible, we follow you."

Khylear grinned once again,

"We will go meet up with the rest of the army, I have some friends from Orbis who can make that much easier."

The lycanthropes and the zombies looked up and saw an armada of skeletal ships flying towards them,

circling around the ships were at least fifty crimson balrogs. As the fleet neared them, seven ships flew down and landed on the ground.

The army of lycanthropes and zombies began to board them. As this was going on another ship flew down and landed,

Khylear motioned for one of the strongest lycanthropes, as well as the zombie that had spoken to him earlier to board this ship with him.

The ship was much less packed than the others as there was just one representative of each type of monster aboard it.

As the armada flew into the air, Khylear's ship went to the head. The leader of the crimson balrogs then asked "Your army is ready, where would you have us go?"

A feral smile crept up Khylear's face "Set a course for Victoria Island, its time I paid some old friends of mine a visit."

* * *

(AN) Woohoo, shit is going down in Victoria!

We now bring you an important Q and A session which will answer many important questions voiced by readers:

Q: How the hell does Khylear reach level seventy in a few days?

A: Well, he got twenty levels from allying with the crimson balrogs, ten levels for slaying an immortal wolf (How many immortal beings have you slain? Uh huh that's what I thought.), and ten more levels for having the guts to wrestle a yeti WITH NO WEAPON!

Q: How come he never talked to the third job instructor?

A: Your jealousy of Khylear's epicness is so transparent.

Q: Is epicness even a word?

A: It is now.

(/AN)


End file.
